Baby born ‘inside out’ underwent life-saving surgery at just 5 days old

When Emily Oldcorn, from Telford, was warned her unborn baby's intestines were outside of his body, she was terrified. Then when Connor was born, nothing could've prepared her for seeing her little boy with his insides out. Here 23-year-old Emily tells her story...

Because his bowels were exposed, it could cause them to become irritated, shorten, or swell.

The bag would reduce the amount of fluid and body-heat loss, and prevent damage.

When Connor was 5 days old, he had successful surgery to reinsert his intestines.

Relief.

Two days on, I got my first hold.

‘Hello baby boy,’ I soothed, kissing his head.

He spent the next few weeks in hospital recovering, then after a month he was allowed home.

‘Baby! Baby!’ Thomas chanted, desperate for a cuddle.

By now Connor was able to feed properly.

SWNS

But over time, he just didn’t seem to be putting on any weight.

He had terrible diarrhoea too and his belly started to swell

Back and forth to the hospital, in March 2016 we were told he needed further surgery.

Doctors needed to remove two narrowings that’d developed in his bowel.

70cm (2ft) of his intestines needed to be taken out.

Poor Connor was only 8 months old – too young for more big ops.

After surgery, Connor spent two months in hospital recovering.

‘He’s a bit poorly but he’s getting better,’ I told Thomas.

The Ronald McDonald House charity provided us with accommodation.

It meant Ross and I could be with Connor and still spend time with Thomas and Joshua.

Finally, in May, Connor was allowed home.

And since then he’s coming on leaps and bounds.

He’s a year old now and is a happy, cheeky little thing.

He’s feeding well and his bowels seem to be functioning OK.

Doctors can’t be sure if he’ll have further trouble in the future.

For now my little tot is doing just fine, though.

He’s perfect inside and out.

Gastroschisis: The facts

1 in 3,000 babies are born with gastroschisis each year in the UK. The exact cause is unknown but it’s found to be more common in young mothers under the age of 20. Children who’ve had gastroschisis repair may develop hernias in the years after the op. This is because the abdomen has fewer muscles than usual.

Sign up our free newsletter

Please keep me up to date with special offers and news from Life Death Prizes and other brands operated by TI Media Limited via email. You can unsubscribe at any time.

We'd also like to send you special offers and news just by email from other carefully selected companies we think you might like. Your personal details will not be shared with those companies - we send the emails and you can unsubscribe at any time. Please tick here if you are happy to receive these messages.

Search

We work hard to achieve the highest standards of editorial content, and we are committed to complying with the Editors’ Code of Practice (https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/cop.html) as enforced by IPSO.

If you have a complaint about our editorial content, you can email us at complaints@ti-media.com or write to Complaints Manager, TI Media Limited Legal Department, 161 Marsh Wall, London, England, E14 9AP. Please provide details of the material you are complaining about and explain your complaint by reference to the Editors’ Code.

We will endeavour to acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and we aim to correct substantial errors as soon as possible.